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| Newsletter No: 18 || Category: Info || Secondary Category: ERRS || Story ID: 230139 || Submitted on: 2006-01-11 09:12:50+00 |
 | EULEP InformationAt its inception EULEP was registered as a legal entity under Belgian law. A significant change has been introduced into the regulations for registration of legal associations, as was reported to the Chairman by our Treasurer, Jacques Boniver. The Treasurer confirms that an adaptation of the Statutes and Bye-laws of EULEP might require major changes. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the legal regulations in Belgium (and the Statutes of EULEP) require a Belgian member within the Council, which was Jacques Boniver. Jacques has, however, ended his mandate by the end of 2005, and replacement by a new Belgian Council member would now be necessary. Therefore, in order to maintain the status of EULEP as a legal entity, and hence its option to apply for EU funding, transfer of the legal registration of EULEP to another country would appear to be desirable, although this might take some time.
Independently of the legal position of EULEP, the Officers, John Stather (Vice-Chairman), Paul Schofield (Secretary General), Jacques Boniver (Treasurer) and myself, as well as the Members of the Council are aware of a decreasing interest of the members of EULEP in its activities, and there has been a general lack of active support of future actions. This was typified by a decreasing participation of EULEP members in the scientific symposia during the recent years. Moreover, although various member laboratories are partners or co-ordinators of EU-funded projects, EULEP has not been integrated into these activities.
The strategy for funding within the Framework Programmes has significantly changed over the last years. The Commission is unwilling to fund non-profit organisations like EULEP per se, independently of specific projects. Such projects, however, must be based on the interest and active contribution of all members of the Group, and cannot be initiated or managed by the Council alone. Yet, as described above, interest in providing this support by the members has clearly declined. The Officers and the Council do not at present envisage any clear options for obtaining funding from the EC or from other sources for the forthcoming years. This will prevent any effective activities, including the annual General Assemblies.
Based on these considerations and in face of the general difficult situation of EULEP, I am therefore informing you as a member of EULEP - in my role as the Chairman of EULEP, in agreement with and with authorisation of the Council - of the cessation of EULEP activities. There are no regulations for ending the work of the Group in the Statutes or Bye-Laws, and hence this regrettable decision was agreed upon by the Council and the representatives of the Voting Member Laboratories. |
Submitted by: Wolfgang Doerr, TU DRESDEN, Dresden, Germany
Responsible editor: Executive Editor |
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